Chapter 53: The Flame That Leads the Forgotten

Three days passed.

No dropships.

No Crown.

Just wind through tall grass and whispers through forgotten pines.

Rivan's team moved through a dead zone—an unclaimed stretch between territories, erased from Crown maps after the last Flame Purge. Locals called it Ashvale, but no one lived here anymore.

Not officially.

Kael squatted over a crumbling glyph stone, brushing off soot. "Crown sigils. Older than most. But they didn't build this place."

Selina adjusted her scout lens. "They burned it. Or tried to."

[System Alert: Echo Residue Detected – Signal Type: Sovereign Fragment | Directional Trace: Southeast Quadrant]

[Warning: Terrain Distortion Field Active – Mapping Inaccuracy 12–28%]

Ava scanned the horizon. "Still picking up signal flares, but they're low-frequency. Flickers, not calls. Someone's trying not to be found."

Rivan stepped past them.